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The Ribbajack
The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns is a collection of six short stories by Brian Jacques, following in the tradition of Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales. The US paperback version is entitled The Ribbajack & Other Haunting Tales. Summary The Ribbajack Archibald Smifft lives in a boarding school and is infamous for tormenting his fellow students. One day, the matron and headmaster of the boarding school discover his stash of supplies for dark magic. When an old army veteran visits the school, the two ask him to address the issue, hoping Archibald would listen to him. However, Archibald is extremely annoyed and seeks for something to take revenge. Two boys, who share his dormitory, accidentally let slip about a piece of information relating to a dark monster, the Ribbajack. Archibald takes the letter containing the information and conjures his own Ribbajack, and sets him upon the old army veteran. Unknown to them at the time, the old medal the veteran wears was given to him by an Indian and had been enchanted to turn Ribbajacks on their owners. Archibald and the Ribbajack disappear. A Smile and a Wave Maggie, a slightly rebellious teenager, fights with her mom over going to an ice rink with her friends. Her mother insists on bringing her coat, which she had deliberately left at school because she didn’t like it. Maggie returns to school, even though it’s closed at night, and retrieves her coat, but comes across a strange apparition of a girl with a rose. The girl’s evil face causes Maggie to flee the school. She leaves behind a book that tells the tale of how the Leah Edwina Tranter School came about when a lonely 14-year-old girl disappeared. She was found dead behind a bookcase with a rose in her hand. Her father became depressed and her mother left him. It was his will which asked for the school to be built where his house had stood. The All Ireland Champion Versus the Nye Add Roddy Mooney lives with his mother despite being the All Ireland Champion Fisherman. They are poor because Roddy does not like fish and most of what he catches gets thrown back. One day, he meets young Mickey Hennessey, who tells Roddy he wants to catch a mermaid. They see a giant tail in the water and Roddy believes it’s a large fish. He rushes home to get his supplies to catch it. Roddy hooks something, but suddenly gets pulled into the water from the other end of the line - it turns out to be a mermaid. She starts playing with him underwater until her mother catches her. The young mermaid is scolded and she pushes Roddy up to the surface, leaving him forever altered by the experience. Afterwards, the narrator describes how Mickey goes down to the water every midsummer night, and the mermaid appears to look for Roddy. Mickey grows to learn her language, and finds out she is really a Kelpie. At the end, Mickey is revealed as the narrator. The Mystery of Huma D'Este Miggy Mags and the Malabar Sailor Rosie's Pet Release details *2004, US, Philomel Books, ISBN 0399242201, Pub. Date: May 2006, Hardcover *2006, US, Penguin Books, ISBN 0142403784, Pub. Date: August 2006, Paperback *2006, UK, Penguin Books, ISBN 0141321660, Pub. Date: Sept. 2006, Paperback Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns, The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns, The